Update at 7:20 p.m.: Not long after the news conference, Dallas police issued the following alert targeting residents of the patrol division where the murder occurred:

Information Regarding Solicitors SoughtThe Dallas Police department would like to know if anyone has any information regarding solicitors selling cleaning products or alarm systems between March 6 and March 7, 2013. If you have any information or purchased cleaning supplies or an alarm system from a solicitor please call Detective Scott Sayers at 214-671-3647.

Original post at 4:41 p.m.: Dallas police officials made a public plea this afternoon for help solving the "brutal murder" of a 79-year-old woman found dead in her East Dallas home over the weekend.

"The motive is unclear," said Major Jeff Cotner. "Detectives are working with Ms. Cowgill's family on what property, if any, has been removed."

Oak Farms Dairy is offering $10,000 for information leading to an arrest and indictment in the case. CrimeStoppers is offering up to $5,000 for information in the case.

Cotner said investigators canvassed the neighborhood for leads, "but we need the public's assistance in solving this crime."

Reporters peppered Cotner with questions about the case, but he mostly declined to release specific information. Cowgill was thought to have gone Thursday or Friday to a store, which Cotner would not identify. That was likely the last time she was seen alive.

"It was a brutal murder," Cotner said. "We're not going to release any information about cause or manner of death."